Janice Esseks Keller

Janice Esseks Keller died suddenly April 21 of a stroke at Stony Brook University Medical Center. She was 88 and had been a resident of Peconic Landing in Greenport‎ for two years. Previously she lived in Mattituck. 

She worked for many years as a real estate agent for Celic Realty (now Douglas Elliman) in Mattituck

In 1991 Ms. Keller earned a PhD in English literature from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. ‎The valedictorian of her high school class in Tenafly, N.J., at age 16, she graduated from Oberlin College and then received a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University.

She married Richard C. Keller in 1955 in New York. They moved to Amityville in 1958 and lived there for more than 30 years. Her husband died in 2010. Ms. Keller taught English for 31 years at the State University of New York at Farmingdale.

Family members said she was a world traveler who visited more than 50 countries. She had renewed her passport just before her death.

Ms. Keller leaves two children, Hope of Baltimore, and Barth of Northport; two brothers, William Esseks of Aquebogue and John Dixon Esseks of Lincoln, Neb.; and four grandchildren.

A family memorial service will take place at a later date.

Donations may be made in her name to Emily’s List or to Spay Alter Vaccinate Every Stray (SAVES).